“PC games not dead yet” – Nvidia

Sharper monitors and special versions of games will reinvigorate PC gaming, according to Nvidia representatives. These days it seems that millions of gamers have switched to playing games on their game consoles, but Roy Taylor, Nvidia’s Vice President of Content Relations, recently told us that PC games aren’t dead by a “longshot”.

Taylor predicts that the next big jump in computer monitor resolutions will be screens with 3800 by 2400 pixel or approximately nine megapixels. “They’ll need to be at most 30-inches wide with a finer dot pitch,” he said, adding that larger monitors would probably break an average desk.

Of course those monitors will be expensive at first and the refresh rate probably won’t be that great, but just like all technology they will get faster and cheaper. Manufacturing LCD screens is similar economically to making DRAM because the columns of pixels in a monitor screen resemble the rows of memory cells in your typical DRAM chip.

According to Taylor, economies of scale and efficiency take over and large computer monitors should become affordable – something that we’ve seen in memory capacities and prices.

It’s obvious that without better games, sharper monitors and more powerful graphics cards would be useless. Taylor told us that he would like game developers to make director’s cut versions – with more scenes, levels and better graphics – of popular games. He adds that every bit of eye candy would be added, even if it was impossible to render smoothly on a regular machine.

Developers often want to make the best possible game, but business realities mean that games must often be scaled-down graphically to work on many machines. “I would like a version of the game that doesn’t pander to the businessmen. Something with the very very best in graphics,” Taylor said, adding that if it takes a $20,000 PC to run the game, “then so be it”.

Taylor told us that he’s already talked to several developers who have been receptive to the director’s cut idea.

MIT scientists create “robofin” for future submarines

MIT scientists are taking a cue from nature and are developing a robotic fin that could be used on future submarines. The fin is made of thin, flexible polymer that curls up when electric current is applied. The scientists say the fin could one day replace traditional submarine propellers and make underwater craft more energy efficient.

The research is being spearheaded by MIT professor Ian Hunter and post-doctoral student James Tangorra in the Bioinstrumentation Lab. These scientists chose to copy the movements of the bluegill sunfish because it has constant forward thrust without any backward drag. They broke the motion down to 19 critical elements include sweeping and curling of various parts of the fin.

So far the scientists can copy all the motions, but the tricky part is getting all the motions in sequence. Of course you just can’t attach a robotic fin to the back of a rigid body submarine because regular fish move their entire bodies, along with their side fins. Tangorra said his team will examine the sunfish’s entire motion and to figure out how to “best adapt nature’s principles to designing robotic vehicles.”

Q2 a disaster for most DRAM makers

The second quarter of the year is a slow season and great things aren’t generally expected to happen here in terms of financials and product shipments. However, it appears that DRAM manufacturers had an especially rough quarter with overall revenues declining by 24% sequentially, according to iSuppli.

“How bad were conditions in the DRAM market in the second quarter?” writes the market research firm in its press release. Read a few lines further and you get the impression that was about as bad as it can get.

While unit shipments gained 23% from Q1 of this year, global revenues dropped by 24%. Among the ten largest DRAM makers, especially Nanya, Powerchip and Promos suffered steep revenue declines of up to 43%. Etron, ranked #9 on the list, was the only company that was able to grow its revenue sequentially; on an annual basis, Hynix (#2, +29%), Elpida (#4, +16%),Etron (#9, +65%) and Winbond (#10, +6%) increased their revenues.

Samsung continues to lead the ranking and expand its market presence. The company increased its revenue share to 28% and unit share to 24%. iSuppli estimates that Samsung shipped the equivalent of 619 million 512 Mb chips, more than twice as many chips as in Q2 2006 (302 million). Revenues, however, were 3% year over year.

Hynix took the position as second largest DRAM supplier from Qimonda, increased its DRAM shipments from 217 million to 575 million 512 Mb chips and revenues from $1.17 billion to $1.52 billion. Qimonda’s shipment climbed from 217 million to 336 million units, while revenues fell from $1.2 billion to $990 million in the same time frame.

Intel drops 32-bit dual-core LV processors

Intel has informed its customers that it has begun phasing out two of its three “Sossaman” processors.

According to a product change notification sent out today, Intel that the 1.66 GHz and 2 GHz Xeon LV dual-core processors have a last order date of December 28 of this year with last processors planned to be shipped On May 2, 2008.

Sossaman is based on the 65 nm “Yonah” dual-core processor, which was introduced as the notebook-targeted CPU “Core Duo” in January 2006. Targeted at the blade-server and embedded marketed, Sossaman is offered in two LV (“low voltage”) versions with 2 MB L2 cache and support for FSB667. Both models are being phased out rated at a thermal design power (TDP) of 31 watts.

According to the Intel note, “market demand has shifted to higher performance Intel processors,” which primarily refers to the newer generation Core-based Woodcrest LV processors (40 watt TDP), which are offered by Intel in dual-core and quad-core configurations. One of the major drawbacks of Sossaman is the lack of support for 64-bit applications and the resulting 16 GB memory limitation.

The 1.66 GHz Sossaman ULV (“Xeon ULV”) dual core processor, rated at a TDP of 15 watts, is not affected by this discontinuance announcement.

Iomega rolls out new NAS line

Iomega today added new members to its StorCenter Network Hard Drive product line.

Available in 500 GB, 750 GB and 1 TB capacities, all members of the new line feature feature a journaling file system, Active Directory support and come bundled with EMC Retrospect Express backup and disaster recovery software. Other features include Apple Bonjour support and integrated UPnP AV and print services.

Read the complete story here.

AMD regains x86 processor market share

A new report released by Mercury Research indicates that AMD is bouncing back in terms of market share. Most interestingly, the research said that AMD’s gains are not so much based on the fierce price battle with Intel, but on the fact that it had a product mix better suited to the market requirements in Q2.

According to Mercury Research, AMD had an x86 processor market share of 22.9% in Q2 of this year, up from 18.7% in Q1 and even up from 21.6% in Q2 2006. Intel, in comparison, is estimated 76.3%, down from 80.5% in Q1 of this year and up from 72.9% in Q2 2006.

Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research said that AMD regained most, “but not all of the share it lost last quarter due to its inventory issues”. The company built a whole lot of inventory during Q4, which it could not sell in Q1, but apparently could get rid of in Q2.

According to McCarron, Q2 2007 showed “strange behavior”, as demand grew over Q1, which is uncommon in the seasonal trendline. “Everyone is still trying to figure out where this demand came from,” he said, but noted that there was “significant” growth in the lower end of the market, which apparently came especially from emerging markets. McCarron said that the desktop CPU battles of Q2 2007 were mainly fought in the price range of about $60, which involved the very low-end of AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 line, as well as Intel’s Core 2 Duo E2140 and E2160 processors.

AMD’s current X2 processor offering, which is priced in its entirety below $200 in terms of tray prices, suggests that AMD now has an advantage over Intel in the current market, but McCarron disagreed – as both companies have products available to serve this market. However, he noted that in Q2 AMD may have had the better product mix and lower average selling price to address market demand.

Last week, Current Analysis reported that AMD was able to increase its share in the U.S. retail market.

Colin McRae to race onto PS3 this year

Racing series Colin McRae, known for its attention to realistic vehicle damage, is heading to the Playstation 3 this fall with Colin McRae: Dirt.

The latest entry in the franchise, which is named after the 25-time tournament champion Scottish race car driver, has a main focus on realistic damage effects.

The game's developer, Codemasters, even has a proprietary physics engine called "Neon" that simulates real world effects of crashes, burnout, and other crazy driving maneuvers.

Colin McRae: Dirt also incorporates the same kind of physics to the racing environments, like walls, tracks, and signposts. All these effects happen dynamically and in real time, according to Codemasters, meaning the track will have different effects on drivers if there have been previous crashes or damage. Codemasters says the game will also support 7.1 channel surround sound on the PS3, a feature widely neglected by most developers for the next-gen system.

Dirt, which is already available on the PC and Xbox 360, will come out for the PS3 this September.

Printer particles as bad as cigarette smoke – study

Australian researchers have found that exposure to ordinary printer toner can be just as hazardous as cigarette smoking. Lidia Morawska, PhD, with the Queensland University of Technology tested 62 office laser printers and found that 17 of them emitted high amounts of ultrafine toner particles – particles small enough to get into the deepest parts of the lungs and cause respiratory illness.

Morawska tested popular printer brands like HP, Canon, Ricoh and Toshiba and found that one-third of them emitted dangerous levels of particles. In addition, six printers spewed out low levels while two printers shot out medium levels of particles. Morawska found one particularly dirty printer that could be compared to a lit cigarette in the amount of particles sent in the air.

The study also seems to back up common-sense by discovering that new toner cartridges produced more particles and that printing graphics and images was a particularly polluting affair. Morawska also found that indoor particle levels rise five-fold during printer usage.

The researchers plan to test the chemical composition and toxicity of the particles in future studies.

Cell phones save patient during surgery power outage

A team of mobile phones became a makeshift light source over the weekend when the power went out during an emergency surgery.

Doctors in a small hospital in the middle of Argentina were performing an emergency appendectomy when the power was suddenly cut off, according to Reuters. The generator also failed, leaving the surgical team in total darkness with the patient's anesthesia wearing thin. For 20 minutes, surgeons and anesthetists were unable to do anything, when some creative minds outside the operating room had an idea.

In the nearby waiting room, "A family member got some cell phones together from people in the hallway and took them in to provide light," said a hospital spokesperson in an interview with local TV station "TN".

The power reportedly remained out for a total of around one hour. The surgery was a success.

Judge says eBay can still use "Buy It Now” feature

A US District Court judge will allow eBay to continue using its “Buy It Now” feature as the company continues its patent fight against MercExchange. Judge Jerome Friedman of the Eastern District Court of Virginia denied MercExchange’s injunction because it appeared that the company was making enough money from its patents.

MercExchange initially sued eBay back in 2003 for infringing on its instant purchase patent. MercExchange won a $25 million judgement and requested a permanent injunction, something that probably would have hurt eBay tremendously.

The injunction request was denied by Friedman, but MercExchange appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and won the injunction. eBay then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court in May 2006. The Supreme Court overturned the injunction and kicked it back down to Friedman’s District Court. Whew… simply put the injunction was denied, approved, denied and now denied. Legal ping-pong at its finest.

Judge Friedman says MercExchange appears to be making adequate money from the patent and sees no need for an injunction. He also based his ruling on a recent decision by the United States Trademark and Patent Office that finds MercExchange’s patent to be preliminarily invalid.

But perhaps the most interesting part of Friedman’s ruling is that he distinguishes eBay as a large company doing billions of dollars worth of business versus MercExchange as a company “with two employees that work out of their homes and appear to specialize in litigation and obtaining royalties based on the threat of litigation.” Ouch that’s going to leave a mark.

While the injunction has been denied, the main part of MercExchange’s case is still on going and the company could still potentially collect hundreds of millions of dollars from eBay.

iTunes reaches three billion song downloads

Apple announced today that it has reached its three billionth song download over the digital music store iTunes, averaging over 50 downloads per second since January.

The latest milestone comes just a little over six months since the two billion sales mark in January 2007. That's a billion songs in the past 203 days, or roughly 57 downloads every second for over half a year. This expansion is almost twice as fast as iTunes' previous billion songs. To go from its one billionth download to its two billionth took 11 months.

The online music store passed Amazon.com several months ago to become the #3 music retailer in the country, behind Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Apple has previously stated it holds more than 80% of the digital music market share, but Nielsen SoundScan figures show that physical CD sales still account for nearly 85% of all music purchases.

Super Mario Galaxy shows promise

Opinion - Nintendo let me take a spin through another round of Super Mario Galaxy today and I'm now beginning to really appreciate what this holiday title can bring to the Wii.

During E3 earlier this month I went through a quick test run of Super Mario Galaxy and felt it didn't quite live up to its hype. A cumbersome environment and a seeming lack of focus in the course design left me feeling a bit confused.

After spending some real quality time with the game yesterday, I feel much better about the way it's shaping up for its November 12 debut. In a new level I tried out, the feel was just like classic Mario - find your way from point A to point B while attacking enemies along the way. The environment was lush and colorful, just like something that would have been seen in Super Mario 64, almost universally regarded as the iconic 3D Mario game.

The most interesting part of the demo was getting to play around with Mario's latest power-up, the bee suit. This lets him fly for short distances and climb flowers. To me, this was the best part of the game I had seen so far. It's power-ups like this that made Mario a success and it's great to see Nintendo going back to its roots.

The general controls are a bit confusing, especially since it uses buttons that most Wii games have not even touched yet. The nunchuck attachment is required, and the joystick on the attachment is used for moving Mario. The "A" button lets him jump, while the hidden "Z" button on the nunchuck has him duck. Spinning the Wii Remote causes Mario to perform a spin attack, which is his main offensive move. The motion sensing part of the controller is used to shoot objects that came up on the screen.

In past demos I tried, the levels seemed unorganized and had no overall structure to them. It was just Mario hopping from planet to planet and occasionally I'd see a bad guy and need to perform a spin attack. However, the new level I tried out yesterday was very fluid and for the first time since I played the game last May, it felt like a platformer worthy of the Mario title.

I was skeptical for a while, but Galaxy has really begun to grow on me. There is a bit of a high learning curve, at least for the world of Mario games, and the whole infrastructure of the game takes a bit of getting used to, but now that I've had quite a fair look at what this game packs in, I have more reason to be excited about it than ever.

Boeing’s blended wing body aircraft up in the air for the first time

Boeing has test flown a new airplane concept that is designed to reduce noise and fuel consumption, but will not be available in this and most likely not even in the next decade.
The X-48B - one of two prototypes currently in existence - plane reached an altitude of 7500 ft and flew for about 31 minutes on July 20 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Boeing said today. It was the first flight of the 21-foot wingspan, 500-pound unmanned test vehicle, which has been discussed by Boeing several times since early last year.
The company said that the test flights of the plane, which was developed by Boeing Phantom Works in cooperation with NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, are conducted to gather detailed information about the stability and flight-control characteristics of the blended wing body (BWB) design. Compared to a regular plane, the X-48B does not have a circular fuselage, but a rather flat and wide fuselage that seamlessly melts into the wings. The test planes also do not have tail wings.
According to Boeing, the current X-48Bs are equipped with three turbojet engines that enable the design to reach an altitude of up to 10,000 feet at 120 knots (about 138 mph) in a low-speed configuration. The unmanned aircraft is remotely piloted from a ground control station in which the pilot uses conventional aircraft controls and instrumentation while looking at a monitor fed by a forward-looking camera on the aircraft.
Boeing believes that the design of the new plane will translate into reduced fuel consumption as well as less noise on the ground and the air due to the engines being mounted high on the back of the aircraft.
The fact that the airline industry has relatively long product cycles and long development times means that this plane, if tested successfully, will not be in our immediate future. Right now, we were told, Boeing is considering the design of the X-48B for military applications such as tanker and cargo planes. There are no plans to use the design for a commercial plane within a 20 year time frame, a Boeing representative told us.

Congress fears chaos with digital TV transformation

Washington (DC) - During a Congressional meeting this week to discuss the looming change-over to all-digital TV, many Senators expressed concerns that much of the country is not adequately aware of the transition.
On February 18, 2009, the government will flip a switch that cuts off all commercial analog TV signals. Government reports suggest that around 21 million households still rely on an antenna for TV reception.
Anyone with cable or satellite reception has nothing to worry about, regardless of the specifications of the TV. Those with analog cable will either be supplied with a box that converts the signal, or the cable company will convert the signal at its end, with no change needed for the end user.
Additionally, for numerous years now, TVs have come equipped with built-in digital tuners. The majority of Americans won't even notice any change when the February 2009 date arrives.
For the 19% of the country believed to be impacted, though, the government as well as associated organizations are concerned. The transition poses a "high potential for a train wreck here," said Washington state Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell.
Missouri Senator Clair McCaskill, Democrat, says retailers and broadcasters need to step up their campaigns to show awareness of the change. She doesn't want her constituents complaining to her after the fact. "They're going to call me. And they're going to be mad," said McCaskill.
People with analog TV sets that rely on antenna signals will need to buy a special converter box, which should be available from major retailers in the months leading up to the switch. Retailers are now also required to inform customers about the transition before they sell a TV than can only receive analog signals.
Spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters Dennis Wharton has said TV stations will begin airing public service announcements beginning in December. This form of advertising alone will cost tens of millions of dollars, he said.
The government plans to spend around $1.5 billion to send vouchers to necessary households for a free digital converter, but homeowners will need to send in an application. Each qualifying household will receive two coupons.
The vouchers have a capped value of $40. A handful of companies including RCA and LG are planning to release digital converter boxes that will sell for around $50 - $75.
People who don't apply for vouchers could lose out, though, and according to a poll by the Association of Public TV Stations in January showed that 61% of those surveyed weren't even aware of the digital TV change-over.
Even if consumers are educated, though, there could still be a problem. The National Association of Broadcasters sent a letter to the Consumer Electronics Association in May with concerns that there might be a shortage of boxes that would cause viewers to have interrupted service well into 2009.
Perhaps the biggest audience that could suffer from the transition is the 60+ crowd. The San Jose Mercury News quoted AARP board member Nelda Barnett as saying, "These consumers will be confused, frustrated and angry that this important information and entertainment source in their home is no longer operational, through no fault of their own."

Google joins Sprint to set up WiMax network

The #3 US cell phone service provider has joined forces with #1 online advertiser to delve into a new project that expands both companies' presence in the wireless Internet market.
In a revenue sharing project, Sprint will develop major wireless networks while Google offers specific applications that users can tap into while using the WiMax service.
Unlike traditional Wi-Fi signals, WiMax offers high speed Internet over a range of miles. The technology has been in place for several years but so far has gained little attention. Part of the problem is most devices cannot currently pick up a WiMax signal. Sprint plans to sell subscription cards for an unspecified price, which would give users full access to the network.
The partnership comes on the heels of Google's announcement to work with Clearwire to build a nationwide WiMax network. It's a project Sprint has been trying to get off the ground for months.
Sprint Nextel has seen disappointing sales over the past year. In the first quarter of 2007, around 660,000 customers canceled their service. Sprint is behind Verizon and AT&T in terms of number of subscribers.
The new service will roll out to Washington, Baltimore, and Chicago this year, reports the Washington Post, with plans to reach the rest of the country in the second quarter of next year.

Sony gets FCC approval for fancy T650i cellphone

Sony Ericsson has received the nod for its upcoming T650i phone with an integrated 3.2 megapixel camera.
The new device, whose design has been “inspired by the Nordic light”, according to the manufacturer, is wrapped in brushed steel casing and a scratch resistant 240x320 pixel mineral glass screen.
The phone integrates a 3.2 megapixel digital camera, Bluetooth stereo capability with A2DP support, an integrated modem, USB connectivity, a M2 memory stick port as well as a software suite that ranges from organizer applications to picture blogging, video streaming as well as a sound recorder.
The T650i is expected to debut in the U.S. within the coming weeks in “Growing Green” and “Midnight Blue” colors. Sony Ericsson said that the device may only be available in limited numbers.
Pricing has not been announced.

AMD quickly losing ground in graphics market

AMD apparently has lost more market share in the graphics market during the second quarter of the year. Meanwhile, Nvidia is running away and gaining ground on Intel rapidly.
There were some concerns, whether Nvidia could survive on its own when AMD announced the acquisition of ATI last year. At least for now it appears that, in terms of market penetration, the integration of its main rival into AMD has not hurt Nvidia at all.
According to a report released by Jon Peddie Research (JPR) today, ATI is estimated to have reached a market share of 19.5% in the second quarter of this year, down from 21.9% in Q1 and down from 26.7% one year ago. Nvidia, on the other hand, is listed by JPR with 32.6%, up from 28.5% in Q1 and up from 19.7% last year.
In absolute shipment numbers, JPR estimates AMD’s (ATI’s) shipment numbers to have fallen from 19.7 million graphics devices in Q2 2006 to 15.9 million units in Q2 2007. In the same time frame, Nvidia is estimated to have increased its shipments by almost 83%, from 14.5 million to 26.5 million units. Nvidia’s advance is especially apparent in the desktop market where the company holds an overall market share of 43%, ahead of Intel’s 38.5% and AMD’s 23%.
In the overall market, Intel remains the frontrunner of the pack with shipments of 30.6 million units and a market share of 37.6%, down from 40.4% one year ago.
JPR said that graphics shipments came in at 81.3 million units, up 3% from Q1 and up more than 8% from Q2 2006.